Acquittals in Manuel Ellis' death put Washington state's police accountability law in the spotlight
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A police accountability law in Washington state is in the spotlight after three police officers were acquitted in the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis.

A Washington state law aimed at improving police accountability is in the spotlight after three Tacoma officers were acquitted in the 2020 death of Manuel Ellis, a Black man who was shocked, beaten and restrained face-down on a sidewalk as he pleaded for breath.

The measure approved by voters in 2018 was designed to make it easier to prosecute police accused of wrongfully using deadly force. Initiative 940, referred to as I-940, removed a requirement that prosecutors prove an officer acted with actual malice in order to bring a case — a requirement no other state had — and established that an independent investigation should be conducted after use of force results in death or great bodily harm, among other things.

The nearly three-month trial of the three police officers — Matthew Collins, 40; Christopher Burbank, 38; and Timothy Rankine, 34 — was the first to be held under the 5-year-old law. The trial over Ellis’ death in Tacoma, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Seattle, ended Thursday with their acquittal on various murder and manslaughter charges.

  • Snot FlickermanEnglish
    15·
    11 months ago

    There are so many people in so many tiny little positions of power who will make it their lifes work to make sure new laws mean nothing actually changes. You see this kind of shit everywhere. Yesterday it was about a law in another state to ensure the wrongfully convicted and jailed are not left destitute when they’re cleared of wrongdoing years later, but it turns out it’s nearly impossible to get a payout under that law.

    There are a lot of people who really, really like how things work. They like having power over others and controlling people’s lives. They don’t like the idea of actual accountability or regular people being treated, you know, like human fucking beings.

    We have built a system that rewards these people, and these people are running headlong towards fascism just so they can keep their shitty little tiny feifdom. There really ought to be laws in place to prevent these kind of self-dealing fuckshits from being able to hold office or affect policy.

    ACAB, for good measure.